The Singapore Convention and Its Impact on Domestic Courts

The United Nation Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the Singapore Convention, has filled in the long awaited and much needed gap relating to enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from international mediation. The Singapore Convention is akin to the New York Convention and it provides a uniform and efficient framework for the enforcement of international settlement agreements resulting from mediation and for allowing parties to invoke such agreements. However, enforcement under the Singapore Convention has to be executed by a domestic court in a country like a foreign arbitral award is enforced by domestic courts. Once the matter goes to court, the control by the parties becomes minimal and judges and lawyers dominate the outcome of the settlement. Although the Singapore Convention is based on the principle of “direct enforcement”, uncertainty in courts cannot be ruled out. This paper will focus on how domestic courts have to deal with the enforcement of the international settlement agreements resulting from mediation. The emphasis of this paper will be on the impact that the Singapore Convention will have on the domestic courts in terms of current rules and procedures as well as new challenges. It is important to point out that courts have long experience of enforcing foreign arbitral awards so they are capable of handling international settlement agreements too. Nevertheless, it should not be ignored that the Singapore Convention has introduced some new challenges. Therefore, the ultimate aim of this paper is to provide the road map for courts for effective and efficient enforcement of international settlements resulting from mediation through the Singapore Convention.